What Is The Rule Of Law?

The Rule of law is a legal system in which rules are clear, well-understood, and fairly enforced, including property rights and enforcement of contracts.
In his Law of constitution 1885, Dicey defined the Rule of Law in three concepts:
a) Supremacy of the ordinary law against arbitrary power
b) The equality of all men before the law.
c) The ordinary law being the basis of constitution
The rule of Law connotes the undisputed supremacy of law and envisages a state of things in which everyone respects the law and where law has to be followed by everyone collectively and individually.
It is a doctrine that no individual stands above the law, and that all rulers are answerable to the law. The rule of law can also be understood as the belief that there is a universal standard of justice, equality and impartiality, against which all governments and governmental actions may be measured.
The rule of Law stands for the view that decisions should be made by applying known principles or laws.

The rule of law can be used as a check for executive power within the UK constitution. It has three main elements. Firstly, nobody can be punished unless convicted of an offence by a court of law. Secondly, this law applies equally to everyone. Thirdly, the general principles of the constitution do not stem from declarations made by rulers; they arise out of decisions made in individual cases by an independent judiciary. Political commentators say that the rule of law seeks to ensure that the legal system is fair, a rule which is difficult to follow in practice.

Some legal experts doubt the effectiveness of the rule of law as a check. They point out that parliamentary sovereignty, which involves carrying out the wishes of the government of the day, has now taken precedence over the political and legal constraints embodied in constitutional conventions and in the rule of law.